(Five by) Five Kisses
by dazliousdinosaur
Summary: Buffy & Faith, multi-episode, five kisses they shared.


The first time was nothing. You wiped your forehead as you walked to the boom box and shut off the electronic music that had been the soundtrack to your sparring match. From within Giles' office you heard an exasperated noise of relief.

"You're outnumbered, G!" Faith called back as she grinned your way. "Better get used to it!"

She slung her arm around your neck and used it to pull your face toward her, planting a loud smack on your cheek. Casual, like she did this all the time, to everyone.

"Ick, I'm all sweaty."

"I don't mind."

The tingles her lips left behind were new to you, and you didn't know what they meant. As soon as she let go and turned to leave, you self-consciously rubbed the lipstick stain away.

xxxxx

The next time, she'd pulled you from your classroom window and led the way into ambushing a vampire nest. Slaying back to back as enemies continued toward you from all sides; they were no match for your fine-tuned synchronization. Tossing stakes and holding vamps for each other, you started to wonder how there had ever been just one Slayer, when clearly there were always meant to be two of you.

Keyed up, full of energy but with nothing left to kill, you found yourselves at The Bronze, in the middle of a crowd of lookers-on. Hopeful guys would approach both you and her, you'd each give them a teasing dance, but never took your eyes off each other. You'd danced for what felt like hours, slowly inching closer together, close enough to feel her breath cool against the sweat on your skin. It almost seemed like a game, how far you could swing your hips without touching hers, how much she could run her fingers through her hair and whip it around before it grazed your cheek.

When she sidled through the crowd toward the bathroom, you followed. As the door swung shut behind you, the slight relief it brought from the pumping club music was welcome. Faith pulled a tube of lipstick out of her pocket (the pants were too tight to fit much else in there) and began applying it in the mirror.

"Nice color," you told her. Her eyebrow cocked as she stared at your reflection. She rubbed her lips together, spreading the burgundy shade evenly before turning around.

"Thanks, B," she said as she stepped toward you with a grin. "Want a swatch?"

She leaned in quickly, pressing her lips against yours until your back was against the wall. You froze, a hundred conflicting feelings rushing through you at once, and by the time your brain was finally telling your mouth to return the kiss, she'd backed away, face amused as she retreated through the door and back into the crowd.

xxxxx

The third time was...complicated. Despite your attempts to claim that non-supernatural deaths were outside your wheelhouse, Wesley had sent you both off to investigate the Deputy Mayor's murder. You walked away from the library in tense silence until Faith interrupted your racing thoughts

"I guess this'll be an easy case to crack, huh B?" She knocked her hips into you, causing you to halt your steps. You couldn't believe how unconcerned she seemed to be when you'd both been in the alley last night, both seen the stake pierce his heart, both seen the life leave his eyes.

You sighed, glancing around at the scattered students still hanging around their lockers. Part of you was glad for their presence, since it gave you an excuse not to answer her directly.

"Faith…" you said quietly. Your precarious peace was destined to be short-lived as she narrowed her eyes in response.

Faith peered into the next classroom on her left, then entered it and beckoned you to follow. Stepping into the empty room, she crossed to check the other door while you pulled the door you entered through closed behind you. Faith doubled back to meet you in the center of the room.

"So, you gonna rat me out?" she challenged. "Is that it?"

"Faith, we have to tell." Your voice was shaky. You took a deep breath and tried to sound more certain. "I can't pretend to investigate this. I can't pretend that I don't know."

"Oh, I see. But you can pretend that Angel's still dead when you need to protect _him_." Her words were venomous, a viper strike against your already crumbling resolve.

"I _am_ trying to protect you," you answered, voice pleading. "Faith, what we did was-"

"Yeah. We." She took a step closer to you, your instinct to move back in fear equal to your desire to step forward and meet her, keeping you locked in place. "You were right there beside me when this whole thing went down," she continued, tongue running along her teeth as her eyes flashed dangerously. "Anything I have to answer for, you do too."

She was so close now, almost certainly trying to intimidate you. You stood fast, but she could probably feel you trembling as she reached up to grip your arm.

"You're a part of this, B," she said softly as her mouth grazed your own. Your heart stuttered, your body responding in conflict with your brain as you parted your lips unconsciously. Faith noticed, and smirked. "All the way."

She was gone a moment later, leaving you in stunned silence again.

xxxxx

The next time was even more fraught. Angel's vamp face had receded, and you were out of the chains on his wall, but you still found yourself shaken at how well he had played his part. Your love for Angel and your feelings for Faith made your stomach turn, as the tables just had.

"You played me!" Faith shrieked as the door burst open, letting the others surround you. The fire roared behind you as her eyes became those of a cornered wild animal. The pain you saw there reflected what you'd always felt, the loneliness of being a Slayer you thought would finally be over now that she was here by your side. But she wasn't anymore. It was all finally out in the open now. Her betrayal, working for the Mayor, her bitterness toward your life, her disgust at the thought of becoming more like you; each felt like another little barb under your skin.

She threw Angel into the gang's path and charged toward you. Chaos ensued as the others tried to fight Angel, not knowing he was safe and in on the plan. Your blows were evenly matched with hers, neither of you able to get a solid hit in. Maybe neither of you really wanted to. Maybe _that_ was wishful thinking. You ended in a standoff, each holding a knife to the other's throat.

"What are you gonna do, B, kill me?" Her voice cracked, betraying a chip in her hardened exterior. "You _become_ me. You're not ready for that. Yet."

She grabbed the back of your neck forcefully and pulled your face toward her, but the unexpected kiss on your forehead had tenderness behind it. Her eyes met yours once more as she pulled away, then she leapt up and dashed past the others, escaping into the night.

xxxxx

Then there was the last time.

"Just take what you need," she said, smiling, the first genuine one you'd seen on her face since the death of the deputy mayor. She reached up to touch your cheek, her hand a soft comfort as white light began to wash out the edges of your vision. "You ready?"

You woke up, disoriented, staring at the ceiling. Pain radiated from where your neck met your shoulder as the memories of Angel's teeth sinking into you returned. The room came into focus as you heard echoing voices over a PA system. You wasted no time swinging your legs out of bed and letting your bare feet hit the cold hospital floor.

Emerging from behind a curtain, your eyes fell upon the room's only other occupant. Unconscious on the bed, the steady _beep_ of the heart monitor was the only feedback she could give. Faith was bruised and free of makeup, but looked more peaceful than you'd ever seen her, now unable to erect her constant outer shell.

Images flashed through your mind of the blade entering her gut, the shock on her face, her fall off the building. _You did it. You killed me._

She'd killed people. Tried to kill Angel; threatened Willow. And yet… when she'd leered at you, taunted you with a _Give us a kiss_, you'd almost thrown the whole plan away and given in. But you hadn't, and here she was, helpless, surrounded by machines keeping her alive. You'd failed the only person who could ever really understand you.

You leaned forward, your hospital gown shifting loosely around your skin. Closing your eyes, you kissed her forehead gently, wondering if the Slayer connection evident in your dream let her feel you there. You blinked back tears as you turned to leave.

Finally, it was your turn to run.


End file.
